Posts in Category: mortality outcome

How Integrated Systems Can Help
Medical errors are dangerous, deadly, and all too common. Research published in The Journal of Health Care Finance found that these mistakes cost the United States $19.5 billion in 2008 alone. A 2016 study estimated that medical errors cause 251,000 deaths a year in the U.S., where they are the third-leading cause of death (after heart disease and cancer).
To Err is Human, the groundbreaking report by the Institute of Medicine, found that nearly half of all deaths attributed to medical errors were preventable. What's even more disturbing is the limited improvement that has occurred since the publication of that 1999 report. "The overall numbers haven't changed, and that's discouraging and alarming," Kenneth Sands of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center told the Washington Post.
Mickey Norris, National Vice President of Sales for LUMEDX, discusses how a CVIS can help reduce medical errors.
Medical errors can obviously result from... read more

New research shows that patients in need of a hospital transfer were treated 27 minutes faster when their medical teams used a smartphone app-based social network system (SNS) to set up the transfer, compared to medical teams who didn’t use the smartphone technology.
The research, published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, monitored the time that patients with ST-elevated myocardial infarction (STEMI) suffered from ischemia (reduction in blood supply) while they waited to have a procedure opening their blocked arteries. On nights and weekends, the treatment time reduction was even greater than during the regular work week.
One of the study’s senior researchers, Jin Joo Park, M.D., pointed out that there is a higher risk of death for patients who get to a hospital during off hours—a worldwide trend.
“Transferred STEMI patients rarely achieve timely reperfusion due to delays in the transfer process, especially when transferred during off-hours,” Park told... read more

Higher patient ratings equal fewer readmissions, lower mortality
The scores patients assign their hospitals appear to correspond with the quality of the hospitals' patient outcomes, according to a study published in JAMA Internal Medicine. Researchers analyzed the scores patients assigned to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services' star-rating system for more than 3,000 hospitals. Hospitals' star ratings were inversely proportional to their rates of death within a month of discharge.
Hospitals reap $1.6M from specialists, including cardiologists
While the average primary care physician is generating less income for hospitals ($1.4 million in 2016 versus $1.56 million in 2013), that’s offset by specialist doctors, whose contribution to hospital revenues jumped 14% to $1.6 million, compared with $1.42 million three years ago. Among specialists, orthopedic physicians bring in the most business ($2.75 million each), followed by invasive cardiologists ($2.45 million) and ... read more

A sampling of this week's healthcare stories that you won't want to miss.
Female cardiologists remain underrepresented, report more work-life challenges than men
Two decades have brought little change for women in cardiology, according to a new study. Women account for only 20 percent of cardiologists who see adult patients, and are more likely than their male counterparts to face professional discrimination.
Study eases concerns about antidepressants and cardiovascular risk
Patients who take antidepressants are not increasing their risk of arrhythmia, MI, stroke or transient ischemic attack, according to new study. Prior research had suggested a link between depression and negative cardiovascular outcomes.
ACC honors 18 people for their contributions to cardiology
Eighteen people have been selected for a Distinguished Award from the American College of Cardiology (ACC). The recipients will receive their awards on April 4 during the ACC’s annual scientific session... read more

Here are some of this week's top stories in cardiology and health IT.
Big names in healthcare pledge to facilitate interoperability, EHR accessibility
The Obama administration has announced an agreement to increase interoperability by top U.S. health information technology developers and many of their larger customers. Signing on to the pledge--which requires signees to ease patient access to electronic health records--were Allscripts, Athenahealth, and Cerner Corp., among others. About 90 percent of U.S. hospitals use at least one of the vendors who signed on.
Top 100 Hospital List released by Truven
Truven Health Analytics has released its list of the 100 top hospitals in the United States. In researching the hospitals, Truven discovered a trend toward reduced expense per patient among the majority of top-performing hospitals. This year's trend appeared for the first time in the awards' 23-year history.
More patients survive when hospitals adhere to cardiac arrest... read more

Leave the researching to us! LUMEDX surveys the top healthcare and health IT stories of the week.
Healthcare economics: Basing healthcare decisions on Medicare data might not be best practice
A recent study found that the correlation between total spending per Medicare beneficiary and total spending per privately insured beneficiary was 0.14 in 2011, while the correlation for inpatient spending was 0.267. “What that suggests is that policy for Medicare doesn’t necessarily make better policy for the privately insured,” one researcher told Health Exec.
Reducing readmissions among minorities: 7 population health strategies
A new guide from Medicare gives hospitals methods for addressing ethnic and racial healthcare disparities in readmissions. The guide comes amid increasing concerns about racial and ethnic disparities in healthcare outcomes, and frustration about federal penalties that some say unfairly punish providers in high-risk communities.
Sharing of medical-claim... read more

Did you have a chance to check out the latest news from the cardiology and healthIT communities? Let us help keep you up to date on the stories you won't want to miss.
Heart attack outcomes may improve when treatment sought earlier
Restoring blood flow quickly after heart attack symptoms begin is key to less heart damage, according to a new study published in JACC: Cardiovascular Interventions. The study found that failure to recognize and seek treatment for early heart attack symptoms can cause increased damage to the heart.
Heart failure cell therapy trial gets FDA approval
The FDA has authorized Celyad’s Investigational New Drug (IND) application for a CHART-2 trial in the United States. The phase III heart failure trial will initiate clinical testing of Celyad’s C-Cure cardiopoietic cells delivered via the C-Cath proprietary catheter. CHART-2 is designed to test the efficacy of C-Cure as a treatment for heart failure of ischemic origin.
Coronary stenting often... read more

2015 sees digital health funding top $4.3 million
More than $4.3 million flowed into the digital health market this year, with consumer engagement tools, personal health tools, and tracking categories by themselves making up 23 percent of overall funding. Consumerization in healthcare is also driving mergers or funding deals, according to a report by Rock Health.
Doctor shortages, readmission fines drive up use of remote patient monitoring systems
A new report from Frost & Sullivan predicts that the remote patient monitoring market will grow by 13.2 percent during the next five years. The market growth is thought to be caused in part by fear of readmissions penalties, an anticipated doctor shortage, and an increase of chronic health conditions.
Kaiser betting telehealth is the wave of the future
Kaiser Permanente Ventures has invested $10 million in Vidyo, a visual communications company that integrates hi-def video communications into workflow and patients’... read more

Good news, bad news: High cholesterol rates are down, but fewer than half of patients are taking their statins

Did you have a chance to check out the latest news from the cardiology community? Let us help keep you up to date on the stories you won't want to miss.
The good news: High total cholesterol rates declining among U.S. adults
Rates of total high cholesterol and low high-density protein (HDL) in U.S. adults decreased between 2011 and 2014, according to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). From 2009 to 2010, 13.4 percent of adults had high cholesterol and 21.3 percent had low HDL cholesterol. From 2011 to 2014, those percentages dropped to 12.1 percent and 18.5 percent, respectively.
The bad news: Most patients not making changes to reduce cardio risk
Fewer than half of patients considered candidates for cholesterol-lowering treatments are actually implementing the treatments, which include exercising more, taking statin medication and losing weight. “Cholesterol treatment gaps” are greater among non-white ethnic groups in the United States than they are for Americans... read more

This week, we celebrate Heart Failure Awareness Week (Feb. 9-15) along with the Heart Failure Society of America. Statistics show that heart failure.
Affects 5.8 million people in the U.S., with over 600,000 more diagnosed each year;
Is one of the fastest growing heart disease conditions, with an expected increase of 25% by 2030;
And cost the U.S. $39.2 billion in 2010 through health care services, medications, and productivity losses.
We at LUMEDX understand that in addition to educating patients on heart failure facts, symptoms, and preventative measures, it is also vital to examine the care provider’s side – namely, how to tackle the many challenges associated with managing a successful heart failure program.
Heart hospitals strive to provide timely, highest quality treatment to patients across the entire continuum of care – while finding ways to reduce costs, protect reimbursements, and manage populations efficiently. With a successful heart failure program in... read more

HealthView Analytics™ is a transformative knowledge and technology platform offered by LUMEDX Corporation. For more than 25 years, LUMEDX has been a market leader in cardiovascular information systems (CVIS). The current generation of this system is the Cardiovascular Performance Program™, which utilizes a knowledgebase of best practice insights derived from more than 650 medical centers—combined with analytics embedded in workflows—to boost clinical and financial performance. HealthView Analytics™ also has enterprise programs in Neurology, Orthopedics and Maternal/Fetal Medicine.